Double Portion Post ONE —

When the Bloom Finally Breaks Through: Hope After Waiting

by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan

For the last two weeks, the Lord did something small… and yet not small at all.

Two Christmas cacti that I’ve tended for five years — watered, rotated, moved from window to window, prayed over, even apologized to — suddenly began to bloom for the very first time. No buds for half a decade. No outward sign of growth. Just steady, quiet waiting.

And now?
One is blooming white.
The other is blooming deep pink.

I sent the photos to a friend, and she said simply:

“Jennifer… there is hope here.”

I felt that down in my spirit.

Because when these blooms appeared, I remembered the verse the Lord woke me with at 2 a.m. two weeks ago:

📖 Zechariah 9:12 (ESV)
“Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.”

Double.
Two blooms.
Two colors.
Two plants that refused to bloom until this season.

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A Devotional: The Bloom After the Long Silence

Christmas cacti bloom only when several conditions align:

• light shifts
• temperature changes
• internal structure matures
• and the plant is finally ready

For years, nothing happened.
Then suddenly… life.

Hope is like that.

Sometimes God does the deep work underground — strengthening roots, growing character, preparing the heart, aligning timing — long before anything appears on the surface. And when the bloom comes, it is never random.

It is timed.
It is intentional.
It is prophetic.

My white cactus bloomed first — pure, soft, gentle.

My pink cactus bloomed next — deep, joyful, vibrant.

Immediately I felt the symbolism:

White Bloom

• purity
• clarity
• spiritual sight restored
• renewal of the spirit

Deep Pink Bloom

• love
• tenderness
• compassion
• renewal of the heart

Two blooms.
Two colors.
Two areas God has been restoring in me.

And the Lord whispered:

“This is the double portion I promised you.”

Waiting, Hope, and the God Who Restores the Double

Scripture:

“Return to your stronghold, you prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore double to you.”
— Zechariah 9:12 (ESV)

There are seasons when nothing seems to grow.

Five years.
Five years of watering, hoping, watching, waiting — and seeing nothing.
Five years of wondering if maybe these Christmas cacti would never bloom for me.

And then, without fanfare, without warning, without any sign the day before…
a small bud appeared.

Isn’t that just like God?

He often works beneath the surface, in places we cannot see, at a pace we cannot measure. While we worry about the visible, He is nourishing the invisible — setting the stage for beauty we weren’t sure would ever come.

Those five silent years were not wasted.
They were forming something.
In the soil.
In the cactus.
And in me.

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A Season of Waiting You Didn’t Choose

I didn’t ask for all the waiting I’ve walked through since 2020:

Waiting on healing.
Waiting on breakthrough.
Waiting on clarity.
Waiting on joy to return.
Waiting on God to move.
Waiting on yourself to feel again.

Like the still, silent cactus, I’ve wondered:

“Lord… am I ever going to bloom again?”

Thankfully, Scripture tells us that waiting isn’t punishment.
It’s preparation.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
— Psalm 27:14

In waiting, roots grow deeper than petals ever will.
In waiting, God strengthens what will later have to carry the weight of the bloom.

You, nor I, were denied growth.
God was preparing us both for double.

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We ARE Prisoners of Hope!!

Zechariah 9:12 is a verse God wakes people up with — the kind of verse He plants in your spirit when He wants you to hear Him clearly:

“Return to your stronghold… you prisoners of hope…”

A prisoner of hope isn’t someone who has perfect circumstances.
A prisoner of hope is someone who refuses to stop believing that God is faithful — even when every visible thing suggests otherwise.

It means:

• Hope holds you.
• Hope anchors you.
• Hope refuses to let you go.

Then comes the promise:

“…I will restore double to you.”

Not some.
Not eventually.
Not just enough.

Double.

Double fruit.
Double joy.
Double strength.
Double clarity.
Double restoration.

Before the bloom showed up on my cactus, the Lord had already whispered:

“It’s time for the double.”

Only God could orchestrate something so tender and so timely.

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When the Bud Appears After Years of Silence

My cactus didn’t bloom out of nowhere.
It bloomed out of years of unseen development.

So do I; so do you.

Breakthrough often shows up quietly:

• A softened heart
• A clarity that wasn’t there the day before
• A prayer whispered with renewed conviction
• A song placed on your heart
• A scripture that becomes a lifeline at 2 a.m.
• A sense of God drawing near

God blooms us slowly, then suddenly, but He always blooms us intentionally.

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Reflection

Pause and sit with these questions:

1. What area of your life feels like a five-year cactus — still, silent, and barren?
2. Where is God inviting you to return to your Stronghold of HOPE?
3. How might He be preparing you beneath the surface for a double portion?
4. Do you believe that beauty can still come from this season?

Take a moment.
Let the Holy Spirit speak.

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Journal Prompt

Identify Your Waiting Place

Lord, show me the area of my life that feels like a five-year cactus—silent, unmoving, and barren. What am I waiting for, longing for, or struggling to trust You with? Write your thoughts here…

Prayer

Father,
You are the God of the unseen, the unheard, the not-yet, and the suddenly.
Teach me to wait with hope.
Form deep roots in me while I cannot see what You’re growing.
I return to You — my Stronghold, my Keeper, my Gardener.
Declare over my life the double portion You promised.

Scripture Study

• Zechariah 9:12 — “Return to your stronghold…”
• Supporting verses: Psalm 27:14, Isaiah 40:31, John 15:4

Hashtags

#FiveYearBloom #DoublePortion #Zechariah912 #PrisonersOfHope #TimeOfTheDouble #ChristianDevotional #HopeInBloom #JesusRestores #GodImJustGrateful #FaithJourney